Tensioning device.



W. C. TYLER & E. NALL.

TENSION ING- DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED Amm, 1913.

Patllted J une 16, 1914.

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M0( by Ci vUNTTEE sTATEs PATENT WILLIAM C. TLER AND EDWARD NALL, OF AKRON,

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OHIO, ASSIGNORS T THE GOOD- YEAR TIRE ANDl RUBBER COMPANY, 0F AKRON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

TENSIONING- DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led April 7, 1913. Serial No. 759,501.

' and EDWARD NALL, citizens of the United States, residing at Akron, in the county of 'Summit and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Tensioning Devices, of which the following is a speciication.

This invention relates to tensioning devices for .subjecting a continuously moving sheet of material such as fabric to a determined degree of tension.

The object of the invention is, generally speaking, to provide a device to impose tension on a continuously moving strip of fabric and is more specifically applicable forl use in subjecti a strip of fabric passing from one calen er to another during the process of coating the fabric with rubber so that in case one calender runs faster than the other the slack or surplus material istaken up by the tension of the device, and

any bagginess of the fabric or strain thereon is prevented.

, With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement off` parts constituting the invention to be herein after specifically described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form apart hereof wherein is shown the preferred embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications canbe resorted to which come within the scope of the 4claims hereunto ap-` pended.

In the drawin s in which similar reference numerals in icate like parts in the different iigures, Figure 1, is a view in en-d elevation of our improved device; Fig. 2, is a view in side elevation, showing the movable roll in its lower or inoperative position and without the fabric; Fig. 3, is a plan view of a view inside elevation, showing the movable roller; and, Fig. 4, is a diagrammatic .view of the arrangement of the rolls, showing the movable roll in its upper or operative position.

i Referring more specifically to the `drawings, the reference numeral l denotes a pair of supported L-sbaped beams which are secured to longitudinally-extending flat plates 2. The beams and plates 2 constitute the upper support of the frame of the machine.-

boxes l0 in each support such as a floor 3 are a pair of L- shaped beams 4 the upper ends of which are secured to the plates 2 by angle-plates 5 and the lower ends are secured to the Hoor by angle-plates 6. Positioned opposite to the L-shaped beams 4 are a similar pair of L- shaped beams 7 secured at their upper ends by angle-plates 8 and at their lower ends 3 by angle-plates 9. The members constituting each pair of angle-'beams are spaced from each other. Mounted on the lateral faces of the L-shaped beams 4 are j-ournal of which is revolubly mounted a shaft (not shown), and on these shafts are mounted independent sheaves 1l and 12. Secured to the inner lateral faces of the beam 7 are a air of journal boxes 13 revolubly supporting a shaft 14 on which is a sheave l5. Secured to the front and rear faces of each of the L-shaped beams 4 and 7 are journals 16 between each pair of which extend rotatable idler rolls 17. These journals 1.6 being placed on the front and rear faces of the beams 4 and 7 and projecting in opposite directions from eacn other serve to separate the idler rolls 17 from each other a considerable distance. Slidably 'mounted on the inner opposing edges of the L-shaped beams 7 is a carriage 18 and mounted on' the same parts of the upright beams 4 is a carriage 19. The carriages are both provided with openings 20 (see Fig. 3). constituting bearings for the ends of a rotatable and vertically-shiftable roll 21. It will be noted that `the roll.21 is shown in Fig. 2 in itsv extreme lower position, and as it is raised by mechanism to be described, the

roll passes between the widely-separated rol-ls 17. It will be apparent that as the carriages 18V and 19 are vertically-shiftable on the inner opposing edges of the L-shaped beams 4 and 7 the latter constitute guides for ermitting this vertical reciprocation.

i ounted at a convenient place adjacent to the pair of L-shaped-beams 4 is a cylinder 22 which usually extends through the floor 3 andrcsts on a lower floor 23. The upper end of the cylinder 22 is provided with af packing gland 24 for a vertically-reciprocating piston-rod 25 the lower end of which bears a piston (not shown). The up er end bears a cross-head 26 consisting of) a plate provided with a pair `of apertures. Extending from the plate l2,6, over the sheave 11 is a rope, cord, or other flexible ssl lio

member 27 which also passes around the sheave 15 and connects with the carriage 18. Alsoconnecting with the cross-head 26 is a flexible member 28 passing over the sheave 12 and downwardly to connect with the carriage 19.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that as the piston-rod 254 is vertically reciprocated t-he two carriages 18 and 19 bearin lthe roll 21 will be shifted vertically an pass upwardly between the rolls 17 until its upward motion is arrested by the carriages encountering the sheaves 12 and 15 and the lower terminus of the movement of the 'oll 21 islimited by the carriages 18 and 19 encountering the floor 3. The upper end of the cylinder 22 is provided with a pet-cock 29 to permit the air above the piston to be exhausted at will.

Communicating with the upper end of the cylinder 22 is an inlet pipe 30 containing a valve 31 and to which is connected an atmospheric regulating device 32 the function of which is to maintain a constant pressure with respect to the fluid introduced into the cylinder and from the regulator 32 extends. an inlet pipe 33 provided with avalve 34. The regulator 32 is of any ordinary type and forms no feature of this invention and any regulator capable of maintaining an even pressure of fluid within the cylinder 22 may be utilized.

In operation the fabric 35 (see Fig. 4) is carried under the idler roll 17 and u wardly over the roll 21 and down over t e roll 17 to the calender, or vice versa, as the case may bc. During lthe movement of the fabric over these rolls the regulator 32 is set to impose a pre-determined pressure on the piston cylinder 32, the result of which is to force downwardly the piston and the piston-rod 25 carrying with it the cross-head 27 which serves to raise the two carriages 18 and 19 and the roll 21 and by nicely adjusting this pressure the tension imposed on the fabric between the two idler rolls 17 may be regulated. If, for instance, any

amount of slackness occurs during its passage to the, calender, the 'pressure on the piston by raising theidler roll 21 takes up the surplus material, and if the strain on the fabric is greater than the pressure permitted by the regulator, enough air will leak past the piston under ordinary conditions, to ermit the roll to move downwardly, re ieving the strain or tension on the fabric.

We claim:

1. A tensioning device, comprising parallel guides, an idler roll mounted in bearin s secured to said uides, vertically shiftab e carriages movab e between said guides, a` roll mounted upon said carriages, and means for shifting the carriages and the roll supported thereon, consisting of suspending ropes `each secured at one end to one of said carriages, guide sheaves over which said ropes pass, a Huid-operated cyl inder containing a piston-rod, and a crosshead on said piston rod to which the other ends of said ropes are secured.

2. In a tensioning device, the combina tion with parallel vertical guides, of two idler rolls supported in bearings on opposite sides of said guides, and spaced apart to permit a shiftable roll to pass between them, carriages vertically-movable on said guides, suspending ropes secured each at. one end to one of said carriages, guide sheaves for said ropes, a Huid-o rated piston rod, a cross-head on said plston-rod to which the opposite ends of said ropes arc secured, and a roll mounted upon said carriages and adapt-ed to pass between. said idler rolls by movement of said cross-head.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands 1n presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM o. TYLER. EDWARD NALL.

Witnesses:

H. B. HAMLEN, ANNA J. GILHOOLY. 

